A Night of Kindness
by Crystallia Silver
Summary: A complete Christmas fanfic. Young Anna feels alone on a day that should be of joy and then something unexpected happens...


Author's note: I revised the story, making some corrections in wording and improving some descriptions.

A Night of Kindness

It was a cold night on Christmas... The holiday that carves the unique beginning of a new hope and happiness on the frosty heart of December.

Outside the window of the sheltered, yet silent room, images of empty streets and drawn draperies with a faint light glimmering behind them, could be distinguished.

Young Anna experienced a different sense of cold. It emanated directly from within; An innermost loneliness and a notion of absence. She had made sincere efforts to forget and cease the feeling, but it wouldn't leave her, especially this particular day.

While she continued to stand near the window, she averted her attention from the sight of colourful Christmas lights that blinked strikingly in the dark and looked up to gaze at the sky. The small stars were becoming visible or remained hidden from time to time, depending on the movements of fragmented clouds.

Soon, it was clear to her that she longed for a vague, indistinct presence to bring some comfort and strength to her; A companionship with a good will to help her embolden her spirit...

A trustful hand to hold hers, carrying warmth and acceptance.

Her parents couldn't understand the obscure worries that she often expressed. However, the inexplicable premonitions wouldn't leave, nor could be denied or suppressed easily. Anna earnestly tried to improve the communication with her close family, hoping to succeed in showing them what she was experiencing. But this wouldn't happen today. It was going to take weeks and months. Years, maybe. Unfortunately, Anna also figured that she couldn't exclude the probability that this day might never really come. And the consideration made her feel lonelier than ever.

The little girl inevitably thought that the night of Christmas should have been filled with solace and togetherness inside the family... However, she could no longer pretend to herself that this kind of closeness did not lack in her home.

Although Anna enjoyed watching the pretty Christmas lights of the neighbouring houses across her own before going to sleep, tonight she drew the curtains of her window earlier than usual. She walked to bed disappointedly... Perhaps some of the peace she needed could be found in dreams.

Once she was about to switch off the table lamp by her side, something prompted her to stop the movement of her hand. Anna remained still for a few moments, focusing her mind on the sudden sensation; First, it was an airy warmth, the kind that comes from a small fire burning slowly in the hearth. And then, there was a pleasantly soft scent like the fresh breeze of the woods in a sunlit morning. The combination of the two dispersed some dark clouds from her heart and took away the physical weariness located close to her shoulders, as though she had been heavily burdened with some kind of load.

Anna raised her head serenely, without haste... Her face shone with sheer query and evident admiration as she witnessed a sight completely new to her, an encounter that couldn't be compared to anything she had experienced or remembered in her short life, till now. But at the same time, it felt so familiar. It felt as if she had regained a lost knowledge and a bond from the furthest past, linked to a different place and time.

The small girl did not shy at all when this entity -showered in Light, beauty and utmost kindness, bearing a sincere certainty of protection - filled her surroundings. She was startled, but the smile was not missing from her lips. In the depth of her eyes, happiness dawned.

Somehow, the identity of the visitor was no longer a mystery to her... The divine guardian had appeared where she had previously stood, close to the window, waiting for the child's consent to stay.

Anna had not invoked the angel directly. The holy attendant was aware of this, but after seeing into her heart and hearing her unsaid cry, he deeply yearned to offer some of the light he always carried as a heavenly being, to bring consolation and strength. He was there to encourage the soul he knew so well...

The little girl proceeded towards the angel in calm enjoyment. She was immensely moved and eventually came near to the shinning, resplendent presence. The guardian's glowing aura did not hurt her eyes at all, nor caused any other trouble.

Within this connection, while the two of them gazed at each other, the girl felt tenderness and affection for the angel. A clearer perception that she didn't possess a while ago, conveyed to her that the heavenly companion was feeling the same, the experience was mutual through this mystagogic harmony.

The awareness strengthened her. She felt sure about herself and sure about the visitor's existence. Anna admired the heavenly guardian's splendid, imposing wings and gently raised her hand to caress them with a tender devoutness... She felt tears welling in her eyes.

The guardian angel carefully lowered and bent his wings towards the girl, letting her touch them easier as he formed a sort of protective cocoon around her. The child looked at his beautiful face again and smiled... It was brighter than the sun at noon or the reflection of a playful ray of sun on water's surface. In his eyes though, blue like the vast sea, Anna observed a slight shadow of melancholy. The notion perplexed her for an instant but it didn't prevent her from speaking openheartedly, in a low tone.

" Are you sad...? So was I, before you came. I wish my presence could help you, in any way possible, as much as yours did to me... If only my gratefulness could reciprocate the comfort you gave."

The guardian's countenance softened... Yes, he rejoiced with the words of the person he wanted to protect.

" Please, I would like to know your name. Can you tell me?"

The angel inclined a little closer and the pleasant whisper of each syllable caressed the child's ear like a breeze. And the name... It sounded so beautiful, so unique, so...familiar.

" Castiel... I am glad that we met. My name is Anna. Thank you so much for being here." Before she introduced herself, an inward intuition assured her that Castiel already knew who he had come to visit. The realisation warmed the notion of their bond even more.

The tranquillising presence of the angel accompanied the little girl's sleep and dreams, lulling her fear of the future. Anna was not lonely that special night; The child was together with the angel, the one who could brighten her soul like the largest star that once appeared in the endless sky, on their Lord's first night in the world of humans...

**XxX**

" When your love comes down

I can rest my eyes

Feel your grace and power

Flood into my life

As my brokeness and your strength collide."

'Will you be there?', Skillet

Thank you for reading!


End file.
